Fuselages for aircraft are currently usually produced in sections by joining a plurality of ready-made fuselage portions to one another by forming transverse seams. Each substantially barrel-shaped fuselage portion comprises a plurality of annular formers arranged behind one another which are covered with a fuselage skin. A plurality of longitudinal strut elements, in particular stringers, are arranged on the inner face of the fuselage skin. The stringers are arranged so as to be spaced apart at equal distances over the periphery of the fuselage skin and extend parallel to one another. In order to further strengthen the fuselage portion, a plurality of connection elements are arranged at the respective crossing points between stringers and annular formers, said connection elements connecting the annular formers, the stringers and the fuselage skin. The fuselage sections may be produced in the conventional manner using aluminium, using composite material or with what is known as a hybrid construction method. With regard to the hybrid construction method (composite construction: aluminium alloy materials/fibre-reinforced plastics material materials) specific components of the fuselage structure are formed using aluminium alloys and further components are formed using composite materials, such as carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy resins.
In order to install electrical lines or other types of lines, such as hydraulic lines, water and sewage lines, ventilation and exhaust air lines as well as air-conditioning lines, a visible plurality of holders is ordinarily fixed to the fuselage structure of the aircraft. For this purpose, at least one fixing hole is generally made in the fuselage structure for each holder to be fixed, in which hole the holder for guiding and fixing the line is fixed by means of a suitable fixing element, for example a rivet element a screw, an expansion plug or the like.
For various reasons making a plurality of fixing holes in the fuselage structure is undesirable. Each fixing hole statically weakens the fuselage structure and causes problems with corrosion in the region of the bearing surface of the hole, which are ordinarily prevented by means of expensive protective measures against corrosion, such as sealing the bearing surfaces of the holes with suitable materials. Furthermore, the bearing surface of each hole is a preferred starting point for fatigue cracks, the identification and correction of which over the entire service life of the aircraft entails greatly increased inspection and maintenance costs, inspections also having to be carried out at regular intervals which are strictly adhered to. Furthermore, the actual creation of each fixing hole is also complex, since the generally manual drilling devices are currently still positioned using large templates. The resulting hole chips should also be carefully removed from the fuselage structure by means of suction in order to prevent short-circuits and further problems with corrosion. Badly placed holes, for example in an annular former in the primary structure, also result, in some cases, in the entire annular former having to be replaced. Lastly, changing the installation of the lines at short notice, for example when customising passenger planes for a particular customer, can only be made at a high cost.